[Cap'n Wannabe]

Came across this on Farcebook...

Thank you to the admins for admitting our company to PLA.
We specifically wanted to address the ATSB report into the C172K accident outside of Canberra. We know that some of you feel strongly about this, and we recognise the sorrow and pain that the families of the victims (and we know some family members) are feeling, and will no doubt feel for some time to come.
The discussion we want to have, is about some of the comments we have seen on social media in general. There seems to be a consistent talk about stalling, and the need to avoid getting near the stall speed and slow speed flying.
These discussions do not help. Nor does, unfortunately the ATSB report.
These Loss Of Control-Inflight (LOC-I) accidents occur, and continue to occur because of a general misunderstanding that is pervasive throughout the industry: that is that stall occurs because the pilot flew too slow. WRONG. This thought process has, does, and will continue to kill pilots if it is allowed to continue. An aircraft does not stall because it flies too slowly. It stalls only because it exceeded the critical Angle of Attack. Most pilots as some level do know this, but it’s the lack of understanding about how AoA and speed relate to each other; how to use airspeed EFFECTIVELY as stall protection.
We want to be very clear here. In this situation, and in all the accidents that we have studied (and there are HUNDREDS) and the accidents we use as case studies in our courses, we do not blame the pilot. It is NOT their fault.
The problem in the industry is that pilots are trained to stall as a manoeuvre. Symptoms of a stall are confused with the symptoms of slow speed flight. They’re not trained to recognise the symptoms of a stall and they fail to recover when they’re not flying at a slow speed. They’re not trained to recover from a stall when they’re not expecting it.
Every pilot who has crashed and suffered a LOC-I has done stall training. The problem is when a stall occurs and the pilot is NOT expecting it. Going out and doing a “stalling lesson” will not prevent this. The psychological and physiological “shock” that occurs when an aircraft departs controlled flight is unrecoverable if you have not been trained.
We want to be clear at this point about something else too. We are not posted this and creating this conversation as a “drumming up business”. We wish our business didn’t have to exist; but it does. The real numbers of LOC-I in GA would absolutely shock most pilots. We are posting this so you, as pilots who undertake specialised, “higher risk” flying ensure that you have a very clear understanding of what can happen when it goes wrong, and that most pilots (and we say most, because our research shows it) do not recognise when things are about to, and when they do, go wrong- until it’s too late.
We, as an industry are responsible for setting and accepting the standards. PLEASE, don’t let this keep happening- stay safe, know your aircraft, know your limits, know yourself.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv...-2021-016/